Traditionally, the chamber and obturator of an artillery cannon is wiped down with a water soaked sponge after each firing of the gun. This procedure has been found to be necessary in order to remove all of the remaining flaming debris which may be present in the tube. Also, this procedure is employed to reduce or eliminate build-up of combustion by-products on the chamber walls and obturator.
After each firing, the cannon is cleaned with a sponge which has been attached to a long, slender rod. The rod is, in turn, alternately pushed into the chamber and retracted and the obturator is cleaned with a circular motion of the sponge, usually as a routine duty of one of the gun crew. Since the chamber of the cannon can become quite hot there is potential for flaming debris in the tube, the sponge must be wet during all cleaning operations.
In traditional circumstances, the sponge is wetted by simply immersing it into a bucket of water. However, placement of the rod and sponge assembly into the water bucket creates an unstable or "tip-over" condition, since the length of the rod is considerably greater than the height of the bucket. Additionally, in the case of a self-propelled howitzer, excess water in the sponge can drip on the vehicle floor as the sponge is moved to the cannon, and drip from the chamber and obturator during the swabbing process. This can cause a slipping hazard for the crew.
Under the best of circumstances, the spilling of water may necessitate cessation of firing while the bucket is re-filled and in the case of a self-propelled howitzer, a wet floor can cause personnel to slip and fall inside the vehicle. In actual field use, particularly during an unscheduled firing mission, water may not be readily available at the firing site. Either choice of halting firing to fetch water or firing without cleaning is an unacceptable choice. For example, flaming debris left in the cannon has the very real potential to prematurely ignite the next propelling charge as it is installed into the chamber. Also, combustion by-product build-up, if not cleaned after firing, can become unacceptably significant and does quickly cause clean-up problems after a fire mission is completed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a self-contained, safe and reliable mechanism for swabbing artillery cannons in the field.
Another object is to provide a device which can be used repeatedly without having to procure water after each use or even after a small number of uses.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a device for swabbing cannons without concern for inadvertent spilling of water, even under adverse circumstances of use.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.